Times Tables 1x1 - Easy Maths

Train Multiplication Table

Teacher Overview

Leo the Lion will help your children to learn and memorise the multiplication tables in this app. Later, he represents them in a race between himself and his animal friends where multiplication knowledge is the key to victory.

Teacher Review

The developer of Times Tables 1×1 makes a good point in reference to other times tables apps - most of them place a much greater emphasis on testing and practice rather than teaching the topic in the first place. Picking answers to multiplications and selecting all of the numbers from within a times table are fine to build fluency, but what about those who are just starting to memorise the tables?

Times Tables 1×1 does have the practice and testing functionality of other apps. The developer, in the app description, does not argue that these are of no use, just that they could do with some support for those at an earlier stage of learning. In this app, practice and testing take the form of a race between the star of the app, Leo the Lion, and an animal competitor. These animals form the basis of the difficulty levels as at first you face a turtle, whose natural speed makes it an easy challenge, but later the more fleet of foot creatures punish any mistakes by the player. Correct answers see Leo pull ahead while incorrect ones see his competitor edge into the lead. This is a multiple-choice quiz that covers the multiplication tables selected in the options.

What the app considers the most important part of the app is another section. Users of the app are instructed to use this section daily for a short time. In it, Leo holds up a variety of multiplications along with their answers. A clear voice-over reads the whole thing out.

The idea of this is that children can learn in a relaxed environment without the pressures of gameplay such as timers and lives lost. Seeing and hearing the times tables helps to build familiarity and increase fluency. Certainly, this will help with this, although most children will probably need some daily prompting to engage with what is essentially a passive experience.

A third activity builds upon the looking and listening aspect of the previous section. It provides a similar experience except that there is a delay before the answer to the question is read out. Children are challenged to say the answer themselves out loud before the app does. Obviously, such an activity does not assess nor check how it is played but it could provide useful practice. It is likely to be of most use with an adult supporting the child in their learning. Using a device with this app to provide the questions, parents can help children with their thinking and provide encouragement and praise as it is needed. This would be a really useful activity for parents and teachers.

Times Tables 1x1 offers a practice experience as good as any other times table app based upon multiple-choice questions. The teaching aspects are welcome and useful although limited to the support of fluently learning the answers to times tables. It would be nice if this expanded to provide some support to explain the basics of times tables, using the concepts of arrays and commutability, for example.

There is a very fair offer for those who are interested in this app but unsure if it is for their child. You can get the app for free and it is fully functional except for not covering the 7,8,9 times tables. An in-app purchase extends the coverage to these and players can select which of the entire range that they wish to learn or practise. Across England and Wales, children follow a curriculum where they are expected to learn up to 12×12 so you will need to find another way to cover these higher numbers.

As the app in its free form contains such a full experience you have nothing to lose by downloading it and seeing how your child responds to the learning that it provides. It does what many other multiplication apps do and a little more besides so you might find that you love and your child love it!

Screenshots

Developer Description

Really teaches your child the basics. The times tables. It's not like other apps that are limited to testing only.

Most educational apps that teach multiplication are almost exclusively limited to testing your child's ability to do calculations. This "Times Tables" app goes one step further, and teaches your child the basics as well.

More than just an app for testing your child's ability
There are lots of apps around designed to help kids learn the basics of multiplication. But if you take a closer look, they are all pretty much limited to testing what your child already knows. Although they do make use of appealing graphics in an attempt to grab your child's attention, by writing the numbers in color or inside colorful balloons, and incorporating tests into quizzes or games, these are usually more distracting than helpful.

Our "Times Tables - Learning with Leo" app also has a beautifully designed game mode where your child can win medals and trophies at different levels, but the centerpiece of this app is the Learning Mode. In Learning Mode, the individual multiplications appear on the screen and are spoken out loud, so that your child can internalize them. The app encourages your child to relax and get comfortable. Your child can speak the multiplication back to increase the learning effect. The app displays the following instructions:

" Just relax ... Listen, and say the multiplications out loud if you like. Let your thoughts revolve quietly around animals, the jungle, and adventure. The learning takes place all by itself."

Passive Learning
The principle of this learning method is essentially nothing new. It is based primarily on the fact that it is easier to learn in a relaxed atmosphere than in a frenetic quiz game, and that a combination of listening and speaking forms the optimum platform for quick and successful learning. In passive learning by listening, the brain stores information subconsciously, in both the long-term, and the short-term memory.

Two Different Methods of Testing
Kids have two ways to test what they have learned. Just like a parent testing their child, in "Quiz Mode", Leo the Lion asks the child questions. Leo says the multiplication out loud, and your child has a few seconds to say the correct answer before Leo says it himself. Again the app developers felt it was important to test your child's new knowledge in just as relaxed an atmosphere as at the learning stage.
It all goes a bit faster in game mode, where your child tries to make a small lion win a race against different animals by giving the correct answer to simple multiplications. The game is designed to be highly motivating, and your child can win medals and trophies by running different length races in the countryside.

Pinpoint Learning
Another great advantage of this app is that kids can quickly and easily select the multiplications they want to learn. So they can choose a series of numbers, like the 2, 3, or 4 times table they are currently learning in school. They can also select different individual multiplications to practice separately, as everyone has a few hard nuts to crack!

From Trial Version to Full Version
The trial version contains all the features of the full version, so you can take a good look at everything on offer, and see how good the app really is. However, the 7, 8, and 9 times tables are locked in the trial version, which means that you will need to upgrade to the full version if you want to use the app to its full potential. You can upgrade to the full version inside the app by simply clicking a button. At around 3.00 EURO/CHF, the app is also great value for money.

Supported Languages
The app is currently only available in English and German. Additional languages are in planning. The app automatically sets the language to the default language on your tablet or mobile phone. If there is no default language on the device, then English is selected.